Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle equipped with a leanable body frame and two front wheels.
Description of the Related Art
A vehicle described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5595624 includes a body frame and two front wheels that are arranged side by side in a left-right direction of the body frame.
The vehicle includes a linkage. The linkage includes an upper cross member, a lower cross member, a left side member and a right side member. The upper cross member, the lower cross member, the left side member and the right side member are connected so that the upper cross member and the lower cross member maintain postures that are parallel to each other and the left side member and the right side member maintain postures that are parallel to each other.
The vehicle described in Japanese Patent No. 5595624 includes a left protector and a right protector that prevent or reduce intrusion of a flying object into an area behind the left front wheel and the right front wheel while the vehicle is running, in addition to a link cover that covers the linkage and which is not movable relative to the body frame (the left protecting cover 226L and the right protecting cover 226R shown in FIG. 13 and described in the paragraphs [0200] to [0203]). The left protector and the right protector are attached to the lower cross member and can be displaced relative to the body frame as the linkage operates.
It is possible to make the link cover smaller in size by assigning a function to prevent or reduce the intrusion of the flying object into the area behind the left front wheel and the right front wheel while the vehicle is running to the right protector and the left protector. Since the left protector and the right protector are able to be displaced relative to the body frame as the linkage operates, the left protector and the right protector do not have to cover the entire moving area of the portion that needs to be protected, and hence, the left protector and the right protector is smaller in size. As a result, it is possible to make the front portion of the vehicle smaller in size while ensuring the protecting function against flying objects while the vehicle is running.
Foreign matters that intrude into the linkage are not limited to flying objects that come flying from the front of the vehicle while the vehicle is running. It is possible that foreign matter intrudes into the linkage from a side of the vehicle during a stop.
The vehicle described in Japanese Patent No. 5595624 includes the front cover that does not change its relative position to the body frame. With the vehicle standing upright, the linkage is covered by the front cover. In order to prevent or reduce the intrusion of foreign matter into the linkage from a side of the vehicle, it is conceivable that the shape of the front cover is changed so as to cover where the intrusion may occur from the lateral sides of the vehicle.
However, as the body frame leans, the left side member or the right side member of the linkage is displaced downwards relative to the front cover. As the left side member or the right side member is displaced, the portions where the intrusion may occur also move downwards. In order to cover the portions with the front cover, a lower end of the front cover needs to be extended downwards to a large extent. In this case, it is inevitable that the front cover is enlarged (and hence, the front portion of the vehicle is enlarged) and additionally, there might be a case that the left and right front wheels and their peripheral members (the suspensions and the front fenders) interfere with the extended lower end of the front cover. Then, when attempting to ensure a space to avoid the interference, the front cover (and hence, the front portion of the vehicle) is also enlarged in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.
Thus, there is a goal to prevent the enlargement in size of the front portion of the vehicle while enabling the prevention or reduction of intrusion of foreign matter into the linkage.
The inventor of preferred embodiments of the present invention discovered that intrusion of foreign matter into portions where arbitrary two members among the upper cross member, the lower cross member, the left side member and the right side member overlap each other in the front-rear direction of the body frame can particularly cause a problem with the operation of the linkage. The intrusion of foreign matter can occur at these portions since the pair of members change their relative posture while overlapping each other in the front-rear direction of the body frame.
More specifically, it was discovered that the intrusion of foreign matter can occur at the following portions. A left upper edge that is a portion of an upper edge of the upper cross member and which overlaps the left side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a left lower edge that is a portion of a lower edge of the upper cross member and which overlaps the left side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a left upper edge that is a portion of an upper edge of the lower cross member and which overlaps the left side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a left lower edge that is a portion of a lower edge of the lower cross member and which overlaps the left side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a right upper edge that is a portion of the upper edge of the upper cross member and which overlaps the right side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a right lower edge that is a portion of the lower edge of the upper cross member and which overlaps the right side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, a right upper edge that is a portion of the upper edge of the lower cross member and which overlaps the right side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame, and a right lower edge that is a portion of the lower edge of the lower cross member and which overlaps the right side member as viewed from the front in the front-rear direction of the body frame. In the vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5595624, these portions are protected by a link cover that is immovably fixed relative to the body frame.
The inventor conceived that the enlargement in size of the front portion of the vehicle is prevented while enabling the prevention or reduction of intrusion of foreign matter into the linkage by attaching, to the left side member, the left cover that covers at least one of the left upper edge of the upper cross member, the left lower edge of the upper cross member, the left upper edge of the lower cross member and the left lower edge of the lower cross member from the left in the left-right direction of the body frame together with the left side member, and by attaching, to the right side member, the right cover that covers at least one of the right upper edge of the upper cross member, the right lower edge of the upper cross member, the right upper edge of the lower cross member and the right lower edge of the lower cross member from the right in the left-right direction of the body frame together with the right side member.
According to this configuration, as the linkage operates, the left cover is displaced together with the left side member relative to the body frame, and the right cover is displaced together with the right side member relative to the body frame. In other words, the relative position of the left cover to the left side member and the relative position of the right cover to the right side member do not change substantially even though the linkage operates. Consequently, the left cover and the right cover do not have to continue to cover the entire portions that need to be protected and hence could have a minimum area. In addition, since the relative positions do not change substantially even though the linkage operates, there is no need to consider the interference of the left cover with the left side member and the interference of the right cover with the right side member. Consequently, the left cover and the right cover are easily disposed closely to the portion required to be protected. As a result, it is possible to prevent the enlargement in size of the front portion of the vehicle while preventing or significantly reducing the intrusion of foreign matter into the linkage particularly from the lateral side.
In addition, in a case where a front cover that is immobile relative to the body frame is provided, since the function to prevent or significantly reduce the intrusion of foreign matter into the linkage from the lateral side is partially assigned to the left cover and the right cover, it is possible to reduce the front cover in size. Also this fact may contribute to preventing the enlargement in size of the front portion of the vehicle.